Comic Louis C.K. made a brilliant case against kids having cell phones during a stop on “Conan.”

Now is the time, as a new school year starts, when parents are hearing the call from their kids about cell phones. “All my friends have phones!” “I need a phone to call you after school!” “I need a phone to do my homework or mow the lawn or complete my Mandarin homework!” All of these pleas basically translate to “I need a phone to call my friends, check Facebook, Instagram my new sneakers, and tweet out pictures of me playing Grand Theft Auto V on the first day.”

Louis C.K., in his chat with host Conan O’Brien, gets right to the heart of why we need phones, and why kids think they need phones, and why we’re on the phone even when we’re driving and lives are at stake. It has something to do with Bruce Springsteen singing “Jungleland” and the human condition of being horribly, eternally and phonelessly alone.

“You need to build an ability to just be yourself and not be doing something,” the comic said. “That’s what the phones are taking away.”

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